Page 3 of Right Number, Wrong Man
If loving her was a choice, I’d have quit a million silent heartaches ago. But my obsession with her is in every breath I take and every beat of my pulse. It’s in my blood. The poison and the antidote. A curse and a blessing.
There are two things in this world I’m entirely certain of: my mortality and my love for her. Both are inescapable.
I take off my shoes, hang my jacket and my Stetson on the coat rack, and make a beeline for the living room window. Grace—my sniper rifle I named after Hailey’s middle name—leans in its usual spot against the wall. As I pick it up, the plastic cat charm on the side clanks against the metal. The colors are faded and the paint scratched off, but you can make out its pink boots and matching cowgirl hat.
It’s a Japanese cartoon character called Hey Kitty.Hailey has been obsessed with it since we were kids. She thought she lost this keychain in school, but I stole it one afternoon she visited Mike at our house.
Since then, cowgirl kitty kept me safe through every mission. Hailey doesn’t know it, but she’s my guardian angel.
My spotter, Cody, always jokes about the charm. If the bastard wasn’t my best friend, he would’ve already caught a bullet for it. He’s asked over and over who gave it to me, but I always just say it’s from a special girl.
After checking that the rifle is unloaded, I lift the scope to my eye, peeking through a gap in the curtains.
When I see her, the world drifts out of focus and my stomach coils with that familiar ache—part yearning, part grief.
Hailey sits on her bed in a pile of used tissues, spooning ice cream from a jumbo-sized bucket. It’s salted caramel, her second favorite. The store must’ve been out of raspberry with chocolate swirls. She wears a fluffy pink dressing gown, and even with her eyes swollen from crying, she’s beautiful.
I can’t see the TV on the wall across from the bed, but I know what she’s watching. Her comfort movies: theWraithface Chronicles. They’re named after the iconic main character Wraithface, a serial killer who always dresses in black and wears a white mask that looks like a melting, screaming face with pitch-black, soulless eye holes.
My breath hitches as I spot the threadbare, pink Wraithface plushie on her pillow. If she knew it was me, not Mike, who left it on her doorstep for her eighteenth birthday, she’d throw it away.
A sigh on my lips, I set down the rifle and pour myself a bourbon in the kitchen before dropping onto the leather sofa opposite the fireplace. I turn on the TV above andselectWraithface Ifrom a streaming service. Watching the same movie at the same time as Hailey makes me feel closer to her.
The alcohol burns my throat and heat blooms under my skin as I imagine her in my arms. I imagine kissing her head and burying my nose in her hair. I imagine sayingI love youand her whisperingI love you, too.
When my glass stands empty on the coffee table, I dig my phone from my pocket and find a message from my best friend.
Cody
I can’t last another day without you! The new guy never laughs at my jokes and it’s making me insecure. You still think I’m funny, right? Come back to me!
I could return to active duty earlier than planned. When I got the hardship discharge, my commander and I discussed the matter of my re-enlistment. We agreed that I’d sign on again this fall, giving me enough time to straighten out my brother.
Now that Mike is gone, my reason for staying is gone, too, but a new one is on the horizon.
No, I’m still needed here.
Tomorrow morning, Mom and Dad will lose a son, and Hailey will lose a husband. I don’t regret what I’ve done, but they’ll need somebody to take care of the funeral and Mike’s estate while they grieve in peace.
I write my response to Cody.
Me
You want me to tell you how pretty you are, too?
The typing bubble appears and I wonder what time zone he’s in right now. Probably halfway across the world.
Cody
So you think I’m pretty AND funny???
Me
Time’s gonna pass in a flash and I’ll be back to fake-laugh at your miserable jokes.
Cody
Rude. You doin alright over there?
